general advice for spills. turn it upside down (according to the surface you spilt on) ASAP (too late now i suppose, but cant hurt) DO NOT turn it on (again too late) try to put in a closed bag with those little marshmallow thingies that shoes and such come in. rice works in a pinch.
can also open it up completely and try to dry it out like that.

but if this ever happens again. turn it off ASAP. turn it upside down ASAP (if you spilled the bottom then put the bottom on a towel, if you spilled on the front then put the front on a towel etc etc). and do NOT turn it on for a good day or more. if you try to turn it on with liquid still inside that's when you usually do the most damage.

Thanks but too late! I've already turned it on a couple of times so I guess I am screwed.
Oh well, Merry Christmas anyway!

r

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not necessarily, try the rice trick. it really can't hurt at this point. if it still doesn't work after leaving it in a closed bag/airtight box with rice (wrap your 3ds in a sock too) (better than rice would be those industrial drying marshmallow thingies) then just put it away for a week and try after. you have nothing to lose here!

If you have the right sized screwdriver and don't mind disassembling the console, you should open it up, remove the motherboard, and wash it with isopropyl alcohol and let it dry fully. You can help accelerate the drying using a hairdryer (but not a heat gun or anything that could melt plastic). As long as you don't wait too long there won't be any time for corrosion to accumulate and your board will be fine.

The LCDs, on the other hand, might end up with some marks on the backlight, causing bright spots. Although whether that happens or not really depends on where exactly the liquid was spilled on the unit. Maybe you'll be lucky and it will turn out no liquid made its way into the LCDs.

not necessarily, try the rice trick. it really can't hurt at this point. if it still doesn't work after leaving it in a closed bag/airtight box with rice (wrap your 3ds in a sock too) (better than rice would be those industrial drying marshmallow thingies) then just put it away for a week and try after. you have nothing to lose here!

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Quick update - your suggestion worked! I put it in rice/box/sealed bag and left it overnight and it switched on fine this morning to my delight! I've gone online with it on mario kart and all the screens/buttons etc appear to be working perfectly. So thanks again for your help!

One last question, do you think this will have still damaged the 3ds or shortened it's life span in any way?

Quick update - your suggestion worked! I put it in rice/box/sealed bag and left it overnight and it switched on fine this morning to my delight! I've gone online with it on mario kart and all the screens/buttons etc appear to be working perfectly. So thanks again for your help!

One last question, do you think this will have still damaged the 3ds or shortened it's life span in any way?

You know those beautiful concrete walls next to the ocean? Usually in big cities in places like Florida? Well, anyways... I dropped my 3DS XL right off into the ocean! I saved it and used rice as well. It worked. But I hate the ocean now... XD Bits of Styrofoam work too.

Seeing as how we're sharing.... after putting it in rice for one night and it worked I thought I'd be clever and put it back for another 24 hours to get any remaining moisture. The next day when I took it out lots of rice had got into the insides via the cartridge slot and for a good half hour I had to suck all the rice out.
Not my greatest hour.

You know those beautiful concrete walls next to the ocean? Usually in big cities in places like Florida? Well, anyways... I dropped my 3DS XL right off into the ocean! I saved it and used rice as well. It worked. But I hate the ocean now... XD Bits of Styrofoam work too.

If you want advice on any permanent damage or loss of long term life you should post exactly what cleaning fluid you spilled on it. The chemical composition will allow technical people to advise whether it will all just evaporate, be innocuous or corrosive long term.